Sunday, July 19, 2026

Fire Survivors Convene Online to Weigh Two Competing Cleanup Bills

Cell phone images of the first moments after the Eaton Fire ignited on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, on the mountainside opposite Midwick Drive’s terminus at N. Altadena Drive in Altadena. [Jennifer Errico]

A Monday town hall breaks down Assembly Bills 1642 and 1795 as both advance through the Legislature

More than a year and a half after the Eaton Fire devastated Altadena, the question of whether smoke-damaged homes are truly safe to live in remains unsettled — and on Monday evening, the Eaton Fire Survivors Network will host a virtual town hall to explain what two bills moving through Sacramento would do about it.

Both measures were introduced in response to the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires, and survivors say the two are often confused for each other. The session, the network says, is meant to help residents tell them apart and learn how to weigh in with lawmakers as the bills advance.

Assembly Bill 1642, the Wildfire Environmental Safety and Testing Act, is authored by Assemblymember John Harabedian. It would direct the state Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations by July 1, 2027 setting science-based standards for investigating, testing and removing wildfire contaminants — such as lead and asbestos — from homes, schools and workplaces, specifying what to sample and when.

Assembly Bill 1795, the Smoke Damage Recovery Act, is authored by Assemblymember Mike Gipson and sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. It would likewise establish science-based standards, directing the California Environmental Protection Agency to develop minimum sampling, testing and screening requirements for smoke-damaged homes by June 30, 2027, and would set insurance claims-handling rules for those properties. According to an announcement from the California Department of Insurance, AB 1795 is intended to create the first enforceable statewide standards for smoke-damaged homes.

The Eaton Fire Survivors Network draws the contrast between the two bills more sharply than their authors do. Organizers contend that AB 1642 would require more rigorous, independent contaminant testing, and argue that AB 1795 leans too heavily on existing industry practice — a characterization the bills’ backers do not share.

The stakes are concrete for thousands of Altadena-area households. Independent testing of standing homes after the fire has, in some cases, turned up lead, asbestos and other contaminants that can render a house unsafe to occupy — contamination that survivors say earlier inspections did not always catch. California currently has no uniform statewide framework for deciding when a contaminated home is safe to reoccupy, a gap both bills aim to close.

The Eaton Fire Survivors Network is an Altadena-based organization that connects thousands of Eaton and Palisades fire survivors and advocates for their recovery. Monday’s session is one of a continuing series of webinars the group has held on insurance, rebuilding and fire-recovery policy.

The virtual town hall will take place on Monday, July 20 at 7 p.m. online. Registration is required.